EDA Affiliate, ABB Ltd – Electrification, is the latest in a growing number of leading manufacturers recognising the strategic importance of product data and its role in reaching the contractor customer. ABB’s product data held within the EDATA data pool has cleared the in-built quality control measures to reach Gold Standard. ABB is one of 53 manufacturers signed up to EDATA, 13 of which have achieved Gold Standard.
ABB’s ecommerce-friendly product data is Gold Standard
February 16, 2022
"Improving data is tough detailed work, but it pays off"
Edgar Aponte, CEO at Rexel UK Ltd, and Chair of EDA Data Services welcomed the news, saying
“ABB has achieved over 15,000 products at Gold Standard. EDATA currently holds in excess of 100,000 SKUs, which includes over 43,000 Gold Standard SKUs from 13 different manufacturers, and we’re on target for expansion but not at the expense of data quality. EDATA’s ability to measure the merit of the product data inside is vital: data volume without excellence has little value. Improving data quality is tough, detailed work but it pays off.”
Edgar Aponte, CEO at Rexel UK Ltd, and Chair of EDA Data Services
Excellent product data puts your products front of buyers
Search-friendly product data is essential if contractors and electricians are to filter and find products on wholesaler websites, as Richard Appleton, General Manager at EDA Data services, explains:
“Information about any product is what customers use to search for, filter and buy. Without that information, what we summarise as product data, no one can find your products online.
What it means for the wholesaler
“Wholesalers rely on their suppliers to give them high quality product data to drive sales. For many wholesalers the lack of product data is a major headache.
“Great images, web-friendly descriptions, technical and performance data and so on are essential: if there are gaps in the information buyers can see, or the images are not of sufficient quality, the chances of a sale are reduced.
“ABB Ltd has taken a critical look at their own product data and worked hard to improve it, and their efforts have paid off.
“All the EDATA manufacturers we work with are at different stages in their data journey. For each one we’ve created a bespoke programme of practical support and advice. Of course, every manufacturer wants great data, and considerable progress has been made since the EDA started the digitalisation drive in 2017, but there is much more to do. Product data is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Richard Appleton, General Manager, EDA Data Services
“Wholesalers rely on their suppliers to give them high quality product data to drive sales. For many, the lack of product data is a major headache.
“That’s why a data pool, such as EDATA, is such an asset to the sector.”
13 Manufacturers have Gold Standard product data in the EDATA data pool
Leading manufacturers are using the EDATA data pool to manage and circulate their product data to wholesalers. These have reached the highest quality data standard, with more in the pipeline.
- ABB
- Aico
- Ansell Lighting
- BELL Lighting
- Collingwood Lighting
- JCC Lighting
- LEDVANCE
- Lewden – Palazzoli Group
- NVC Lighting UK
- Prysmian Group
- Signify
- Timeguard Ltd
- WISKA UK Ltd
What is a data pool and how does EDATA work?
- Manufacturers import their product data, including images, into EDATA.
- EDATA holds that information in its cloud-based system. Manufacturers have self-service access to maintain and update it.
- Wholesalers and distributors have access to export the data files and import into their website, Product Information Management (PIM) System, or business systems (often called Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP systems) to they can run their operations.
